Music-leaf turner.



No. 867,056. PATENTED SEPT. 24, 1907. H. & W. KUEHNLEIN.

MUSIC LEAF TURNER.

APPLICATION rmzn um. 24, 1906.

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No 867,056. PATENTBD SEPT. 24, 1907. H. a w. KUEHNLBIN.

MUSIC LEAF TURNER.

APPLIOATION rmm 1.24, 1006.

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23 A; 22 W Z/ .No 867,056. PATENTED SEPT. 24, 1907.

H. 6: W. KUEHNLEIN. v MUSIC LEAF TURNER.

APPLIOATIOX FILED up. 24. 1906.

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HARRY KUEHNLEIN AND WILLIAM KUEHNLEIN, OF PHILADELPHlA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MUSIC-LEAF TURNER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 24, 1907.

Application filed January 24. 1906. Serial No. 297,622.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HARRY KUEHNLEIN and WILLIAM KUEHNLEIN, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and usefulImprovements in MusieLeaf Turners, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to music leaf turners, the object of theinvention being to provide a simple, economical and reliable leafturning device applicable to any musical instrument and adapted to bedetachably connected thereto, so that it may be removed from theinstrument when not in use, to allow the cover of the instrument to beclosed.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the leafturning mechanism may be tripped step by step, provision being made atthe same time for reversing the leaves or sheets or, in other words,turning the same back.

With the above and other objects in view, the nature of which will morefully appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in thenovel construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinaftermore fully described, illustrated and claimed.

in the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a musicleaf turner embodying the present invention and shown applied to amusical instrument. Fig. 2 is a side or edge elevation of the same. Fig.3 is an enlarged vertical section, showing the center post and theactuating means for the leaf turning arms. Fig. 4 is a sectional planview, showing the base plate and the actuating and reversing mechanismfor the leaf turning arms also part of the tripping mechanism. Fig. 5 isa plan view of the bed-plate with its coupling lever, etc. Fig. 6 is ahorizontal section through the book-holding clasp. Fig. '7 is a verticalsection through one of the leaf holding clips. Fig. 8 is a top plan viewof the same, showing a portion of one of the leaf turning arms. Fig. 9is a horizontal section through one of the leaf holding clips.

The music leaf turner contemplated in this invention comprises abed-plate 1 of any suitable size, provided with holes 2 to receivescrews or other fasteners, whereby said plate may be permanently securedto the frame of a piano or other musical instrument to receive the mainbody of the music leaf turner which is detachable from said bed-plate.

Centrally pivoted at 3 on the base-plate 10 is a coupling or lockinglever 4 having the oppositely projecting arms 5 which are adapted toengage beneath lugs or keepers G of the bed-plate, the said lever beingheld normally in engagement with said lugs or keepers by means of alever holding spring 11 interposed between a lug 12 on the bed-plate anda shoulder 13 on the lever t, as shown in Fig. 5. The spring 11 permitssaid lever to be rocked for the purpose of disengaging the same from theseveral lugs and keepers, thereby allowing the leaf turner proper to bedisconnected from the bed-plate.

Extending upward from the base-plate 10 is a center post 14 provided inone side with a groove 15, extending lengthwise thereof, the purpose ofwhich will hereinafter appear. Journaled upon said center post 14 is aplurality of pinions 16, each of which carries a leaf turning arm 17rigidly connected therewith and adapted to turn when the pinion isturned. It is necessary to swing each of the leaf turning arms throughan arc of one hundred and eighty degrees, more or less, in order to turnthe sheet of music or page of a book of music, as the case may be.

Each of the arms 17 is provided at its outer free end with a leafholding clip 18 adapted to grasp the lower edge of leaf or sheet ofmusic and to swing the same through an arc of one hundred and eightydegrees, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The arms 17 are arranged out ofhorizontal alinement or one above the other, so as not to interfere witheach other as they are swung from one side to the other.

The mechanism for swinging the leaf turning arms is best illustrated inFig. 3, in which it will be seen that each of the pinions 16 is in theform of a cylindrical shell surrounding the center post 14. Within thetop and bottom planes of each pinion 16, the post 14 is reduced, asshown at 19, to form a space for a pinion actuating spring 20 whichencirles the reduced portion of the post and has one extremity bentinward diametrically and inserted in the groove 15, the other end of thespring being inserted in a socket or opening 21 in the side wall of theopening, as shown in Fig. The pinions with their actuating springs arearranged one upon the other, as shown in Fig. 3 and are held in place onthe post by means of a cap 22 which is, in turn, held in place by a capretaining screw 23. The pinions are free to turn on the post 14, but areheld in a certain position by the springs 20, in which position the leafturning arms are held at the farther limit of their swinging movement.In order to hold the leaf turning arms at the initial end of theirswinging movement, each of the pinions is provided with a laterallyprojecting finger 24, the extremity of which is received in a socket oropening 25 in the upper inclined face of a catch 26, it being understoodthat each pinion is provided with a finger, and that a catch is providedto engage and hold and trip each finger, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Each catch 26 is pivotally mounted on a short horizontal shaft 27 and isupheld by means of a spring 28 which encircles the shaft 27, one arm ofthe spring ongaging the catch, while the other arm of the spring engagesa fixed bracket or stand 29, upon which all of the catches 26 arepivotally mounted, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4. Extending forward fromeach catch 26 is a trip lever 30, said levers being arranged withinconvenient reach of the player, who, by depressing said leverssuccessively, may trip the leaf turning arms one after another, therebyallowing the leaf turning arms to be moved one at a time by theiractuating means from one limit of movement to the other. I

At one side of the center post 14 is arranged a vertical spindle 31 uponwhich are journaled reversing gears 32 corresponding in number to thenumber of pinions 16. Each of said reversing gears 32 is provided with areversing lever 33 to enable the operator to partially rotate anydesired reversing gear and impart a reverse movement to thecorresponding pinion with which it meshes, for the purpose of turningany particular sheet or leaf of music back to its primary position.

Extending upward from the base-plate in rear of the center post 14 is afixed standard 34 connected permanently to the base-plate and formingthe hinge post for a pair of substantially semi-circular clasp members35, the latter being adapted to grip the backbone of a book betweenthem. The clasp members 35 are provided at the rear with knuckles 36arranged in alternate order and receiving the hinge post or standard 34,while the forward meeting edges of said clasp members are held toward orin actual contact with each other by means of one or more springs 37coiled to encircle the hinge post 34 and having the opposite armsthereof bearing against the rear sides of the clasp members to urge theforward ends thereof toward each other. The clasp members are alsoprovided with arms 38 forming finger pieces or levers which extendlaterally outward from the clasp and are arranged side by side, so thatby pressing said clasp arms toward each other, the jaws or members ofthe clasp may be opened to admit the backbone of a book or the innerfold or edges of sheet music, as the case may be.

p 39 and 40 designate stops shown in the form of vertically extendingrods arranged at opposite ends of the base-plate and extending upwardbehind the limits of movement of the leaf-turning arms 17, so as toproperly position said arms at the terminals of their throw, as

shown in Fig. 1.

Each of the leaf holding clips comprises a pair of levers 41 havinginwardly extending lugs 42 provided with openings through which the leafturning arm 17 passes, said leversbeing thus fulcrumed on the leafturning arm. At one end the levers 41 are provided with jaws 43 and 44,preferably formed of thin sheet metal and slightly crimped or deflected,as shown at .45, but maintained in parallel relation to each other, soas to impart a slight crimp or bend of the sheet or leaf held betweenthem for the purpose of giving stability to said leaf and preventing thesame from drooping or folding over at either limit of its movement orbetween such limits. At the opposite end the levers are extended to formfinger pieces 46 arranged substantially parallel to each other, as shownin Fig. 7. By pressing the finger pieces 46 toward each other, theoperator may open the jaws 43 and 44 to insert or remove the lower edgeof the music sheet. The jaws 43 are pressed firmly together by means ofa jaw-holding spring 47 which encircles the leaf turning arm 17 and hasits extremities in engagement with the lugs 42 of the levers 41, asshown in Fig. 9. Each of the leaf-turning arms is provided with abail-shaped stop 48 connected rigidly thereto and extending upwardlytherefrom, the body portion of the stop being arranged parallel to thebody of the leaf-turning arm andserving to position the music claspingarms in a substantially vertical position. It will, of course, beunderstood that each of the leaf turning arms is provided with one ofsuch leaf holding clips, as illustrated in Fig. 1. It will also beunderstood that any desired number of leaf turning arms may be employedand the controlling mechanisms for such arms correspondingly increasedor diminished to agree with the number of leaf turning arms.

We claim:

1. A music leaf turner provided with 'means for connecting the same to amusical instrument, an upstanding post provided with a series ofgrooves, a plurality of leafturning arms, a series of hollow pinionscarrying said arms and journaled on said post, an actuating spring foreach pinion, said springs being inclosed within the grooves andsurrounding the reduced portions formed by the grooves, a reversing gearassociated with each pinion, a projecting finger on each pinion, and aninclined and socketed catch for engaging and releasing each finger.

2. A music leaf turner, comprising a base-plate adapted forfastening toa musical instrument, an upstanding post thereon having spring receivinggrooves, a plurality of leaf turning arms, a vertical series of pinionsto which said arms are connected journaled around said post, actuatingsprings each housed within one of said pinions and lying within one ofthe grooves of the post and connecting one of said pinions to the post,a reversing gear associated with each pinion, a projecting finger oneach pinion, and a series of catches provided with lever arms arrangedsuccessively one above the other, each of said catches being providedwith an inclined surface and a socket or opening to receive the fingerof its respective pinion.

3. A music leaf turner comprising a plurality of leaf turning .arms anda series of leaf holding clips mounted on said arms and said armsforming the pivotal bearings for the clip members, each of said clipsembodying a pair of oppositely arranged leaf holding jaws having fingerextensions for opening said jaws, a spring for holding the jaws towardeach other, and a bail shaped stop connected to each leaf turning armand adapted to position said jaws.

4. A music leaf turner comprising a plurality of leaf turning arms, anda series of leaf holding clips carried by said arms and said armsforming the pivotal bearings for the clip members and each of said clipsembodying a pair of lever arms journaled on the leaf turning arms andprovided at one end with finger pieces for rocking the levers and at theother end with leaf holding jaws which are crimped to the sheet heldthereby, a bail-shaped stop connected to each leaf turning arm toposition said jaws and means for holding said jaws toward each otherwith a yielding pressure.

5. In a music leaf turner, a plurality of leaf turning arms and a leafholding clip carried by each of said arms and said arms forming thepivotal bearings for the clip members, said clips each comprising a pairof lever arms journaled on the leaf turning arms and provided at one endwith finger pieces for rocking said lever, and at the other end withleaf holding jaws, said jaws being deflected or crimped, a bail-shapedstop connected to each of said leaf turning arms to position said jawsand means for holding said jaws toward each other with a yieldingpressure.

In testimony whereof, we aifix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

HARRY KUEHNLEIN. WILLIAM KUEHNLEIN.

Witnesses:

WM. D. Nuns, Gnome C. Snnnrz.

